


Coming Back to You

by fairyfeller



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Gen, penumbra exchange 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-26 08:05:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13231533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyfeller/pseuds/fairyfeller
Summary: Peter Nureyev hadn't expected to return to Mars. Mars, however, had other plans.For benzaitensteel on tumblr.





	1. Chapter 1

Nureyev hadn’t planned to return to Mars. There was a whole galaxy for him to explore, countless planets and star bases and moons, more than enough for a lifetime of exploration. But he had a job to do and a person to rob, and that meant catching the next shuttle to Mars with several spare identities and a pocket full of stolen creds.

He hadn’t planned on being in Hyperion either, had hoped to spend most of the next few days in Olympias Mons, or the Cerberus province, or any other part of Mars for that matter. Even Valles Marineris. But his target, a director of an art gallery, had insisted on showing him the sights, and there was no good reason why Cupid Royal, his current alias, would refuse to look round the Mars capital.

And he certainly hadn’t planned on being recognised.

Nureyev was heading back from lunch with the target when he heard a familiar voice yelling behind him. “Hey, Agent Glass! Mister Agent Rex Glass! Hey! Slow down! I need to talk to you!”

His target looked back at the women catching up with them, then turned back to Nureyev, eyebrows raised. “Friend of yours?”

“Doubtful; this is my first time to Mars, I don’t know anybody here." Nureyev continued to walk onward with a quickened pace, hoping to be lost in the crowd. Then, when it was clear the woman was heading still heading for him, “I’m sure this is a simple case of mistaken identity. I’ll have this all cleared up in an instant, if you would simply give me a moment.” As the woman drew closer, he took her elbow and quickly steered her into a nearby alley.

“Hey, get off me. Geez, did you have you pull me in here?”

“How lovely it is to see you again,” he said, affecting Rex Glasses’ persona. “Miss Rita, isn’t it? Charmed, as always.”

“You remember me!” Rita beamed at him. “I didn’t think you did for a moment, because you just kept walking and you didn’t look round or nothing, and then I thought it wasn’t you because you shaved off that moustache you had and you look real different without it, but I knew it that it had to be you -”

“Miss Rita, I hate you interrupt you, but I’m afraid this isn’t a good time for me. Perhaps we could arrange something later this week? A private dinner, perhaps?”

“I can’t wait until later this week!” Rita grabbed Nureyev’s arm, speaking in a rush. “Mister Steel disappeared a couple days ago, said something about a real estate scam and getting info on the old mayor down in the subway, and he hasn’t called and he won’t answer his comms and I can’t track his eye and I’m getting real worried about him. And I’ve called everyone, Valles Vicky and Sasha Wire and Mayor O’Flaherty and none of them have heard from him, and I’ve been to the police but Captain Khan couldn’t help and most of the other officers were just mean, and I even called Miss Strong in case she’d heard from him but she never picked up her phone. You’ve gotta help me find the boss! Who knows what will happen to him if we don’t help?”

Nureyev took a moment to absorb the rush of information. “Miss Rita, I greatly understand your concern, but I don’t know what you expect me to do,” Nureyev said, trying to mask his worry. “I haven’t seen Detective Steel in well over a year, not since the unfortunate matter of Mr Kanagawa’s death. And I haven’t been to Mars since then, I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for him.”

“Well I  _know_  that ain’t true,” Rita said. “I saw CCTV footage of you sneaking into Mister Steel’s apartment, that night when he got kidnapped by Miss Vicky’s ex, and then I saw you two leaving together right after, to some fancy hotel under different names. That was right before he disappeared last time.” Rita chewed her lower lip, looking like she was holding back tears. “Agent Glass, you  _gotta_  help me. I’m all out of options and I don’t want Mister Steel to lose another eye.”

Before Nureyev could reply, he heard a throat being cleared pointedly behind him. He turned to see his target standing at the alley’s mouth, eyebrows raised, fingers tapping his watch. “Won’t be a moment!” he called cheerfully, his voice slipping from one alias to the other. “Turns out she knew my brother.” Turning back to Rita for a moment, Nureyev made a decision based more on his heart than on reason. “Rita, I want to help,” he said quietly. “Allow me to deal with this first, and I’ll meet you at your office in an hour. I trust you haven’t moved?”

“Nope, same place.” Rita glanced at the man behind him, then back to Nureyev. “You  _are_  gonna be there, aren’t you? You won’t disappear again like you did with the mask?”

“No disappearances,” Nureyev promised. “I’ll see you in an hour, Miss Rita.”

-

It had taken him longer than expected to get rid of the other man, but Nureyev finally managed it. He had fed his target a story about a supposed brother who worked as space port agent and how people would always get them mixed up, before ‘realising’ he had left his wallet at the restaurant. After promising to meet the next day to discuss the upcoming art exhibit and insisting that no, he didn’t need any help retrieving his lost property, Nureyev had slipped his way through half-familiar streets to the Steel Detective Agency, dropping his comms into a sewer grate on the way.

The office hadn’t changed since he’d first stepped inside; same worn carpet, same faded paint on the walls. It took him a lot of effort not to slide backwards into memory.

Rita bounced up from her chair when he walked in, sending a flurry of paper aeroplanes and origami animals to the floor. “There you are Agent Glass!”

“Hello again,” Nureyev said, taking the seat opposite Rita’s desk, feeling like a client. “Now, Miss Rita, tell me everything about Detective Steel’s disappearance.”

“I don’t know what more I can tell you, he hasn’t been answering his calls and I can’t get a signal on- oh,  _OH_ _!_ ” Rita’s comms started beeping, and Rita brightened as she looked at it. “There he is, I finally got a signal from him, and  _oh no_!” Rita shoved the comms at Nureyev and started pulling on her coat. “We gotta go Agent Glass, we need to go right now!”

Nureyev started down at the comms; it showed a map of the Martian desert, centred on a blinking dot marked  _Theia_. “This is Juno?”

“I told you, I’ve been trying to track his eye, but it didn’t show up until now,” Rita said, pulling Nureyev up and out of the office.

“But how can you track an eye?” Nureyev asked, keeping up with Rita as she ran down the stairs.

“Oh it’s real easy. Right before Mister Steel left I connected my comms with his cyber-eye, he’s been having a few problems with it and I promised I’d have a look at it while he checked out the subway, and I thought I should hook it up with a GPS ‘cos the boss is always getting into trouble and I thought I should keep an eye on him in case something bad happened to him.”

“When did Juno get a cybernetic eye?” Nureyev asked as he stepped outside.

“Mayor O’Flaherty got him it so that boss would work for him. This was back before he was mayor – have you been keeping up with the mayor race Agent Glass?” Rita carefully jumped down the last few steps and flung the door open.

“I haven’t, no.” Peter followed Rita outside, trying not to feel hurt and mostly failing; he would have gladly given Juno a cybernetic eye, had offered him that, and wouldn’t have asked for anything in return. He pushed those thoughts aside; he had more important things to focus on. “It seems there’s a lot for me to catch up on.”

“I’ll tell you all about it Agent Glass, but first we need to get a car.”

-

Juno didn’t know how long he’d been walking for. Long enough for his tongue to be sticking to the roof of his mouth. Long enough for every exposed piece of skin to get burnt by radiation.

Then again, you didn’t need to be out in the Martian desert long for those things to start kicking in.

He collapsed near an outcropping of rocks and dragged himself under the shade, wishing he had kept some of Strong’s rations, or the piece of the dome. Wishing a lot of things, actually.

“Surely you’re not giving up now, are you?”

Juno shaded his eyes and looked up to see a familiar figure standing in front of him. He groaned, letting his head fall back against the rock behind him. “Oh come on,” he managed hoarsely, “I can’t be hallucinating already.”

“You have a lot to deal with, Detective,” said Peter Nureyev. “Radiation, dehydration, exhaustion, not to mention that sandstorm that’s getting closer. My my, you  _do_  seem to get into a lot trouble, don’t you?”

“Starvation not an option for me?”

“Oh no Juno,” Nureyev said with a laugh, “that would suggest something a bit more long term.” He crouched down in front of Juno, hands resting on Juno’s knees. “You still have a long way to go, Juno dear, and the big, mean world isn’t quite done with you yet. But then, I don’t think you’re quite done with it either.”

Juno closed his eye for a moment; he found it difficult to meet Nureyev’s gaze, even if he wasn’t real.

When he opened it, he was alone again.


	2. Chapter 2

Acquiring appropriate transport took longer than Nureyev expected. There weren’t many vehicles outside Juno’s office, so Nureyev had to go further afield in order to find something suitable – something with good off-road tires, and radiation protection that wasn’t faulty. They eventually found something several blocks away, with Nureyev promising Rita he would return it after they found Juno. After stocking up on snacks, they finally sped off towards the desert, Rita clutching her seat as she gave a detailed account of what Juno had been up to.

She kept up the chatter for most of the ride, adding in her conversations with someone named Frannie, as well as talking at length about the numerous plot threads of the favourite streams.

“…and _then_ they found out that their best friend’s uncle – remember, the one who had an elevator in his dog house to sell all those little dolls? – well _he_ was the one who tried to assassinate them at the wedding – turn left here Agent Glass - so they have to hire a mob boss for protection, only the mob boss is the girl who’s in love with them - remember how she sent them all those flowers? - so she’s trying to hide her feelings as well as hiding who she really is. Anyway, it all comes to a head in the finale – sorry, _right_ , I meant right - where there’s this big showdown between the mob boss and the uncle…”

The chatter continued mostly one-sided, with Rita offering course corrections (and correcting the course corrections) when needed. Then, after an hour of talking, Rita asked in a quiet voice, “Agent Glass, do you think Mister Steel is alright?”

“By the sound of it, he’s been through worse than a desert,” Nureyev replied, deftly steering round a sand dune. “Granted, Martian radiation isn’t something to sneeze at, mostly because it kills all cold viruses, but still. He hasn’t been out here long, any injuries should be easily recovered from once at a hospital.”

“Yeah, but he was real bad after the whole losing an eye thing, and I’m worried he’s gonna get like that again.” Rita was silent for several moments, then said, “Agent Glass, what happened to you and Mister Steel when he lost his eye?”

“Miss Rita, I don’t-”

“And don’t say that you don’t know, because I _know_ that you know. I watched you take Mister Steel out to that nice hotel resort, and I thought okay, the boss deserves a break because he’s been working so hard and he’s under a lot of stress with the whole Martian artefacts thing, and maybe he’s going under the Rose name because he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s dating anyone. I would of liked to know because I did think you were cute back in the mask case and I know the boss was mooning over you when you left, but I thought, good for him for meeting someone. But then he left me that weird voicemail and then I didn’t hear back from him in weeks, and I kept showing up at the office hoping that he’d turn up, and I tried to track you down but I couldn’t find you either, even though I broke into your Dark Matter files to get some info on you-”

It took supreme effort on Nureyev’s part not to crash the car. “I’m sorry, you _broke into Dark Matter’s security_?”

“It was real hard Agent Glass, it took me nearly half an hour, but they didn’t have any contact information. Or any information, really.” Rita fiddled with the radio, tuning it from one static channel to another. “And then I came in the office one day and the boss was asleep on the couch, and there were so many empty bottles Agent Glass, more than I’ve seen and I’ve worked with Mister Steel for years, and he wouldn’t talk about what happened, and he was so _mean_. And he gets like that sometimes sure, but never that bad, and for never that long, and he’d always say sorry before and come with me to the movies, but he never goes to the movies anymore, and he’s been drinking more than usual. And it’s ever since he got back from losing his eye.” Rita dug around in her bag for a tissue, and blew her nose. “And I just want to know what happened to him, that’s all, 'cos he never talks about anything, not the important stuff.”

Nureyev sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m afraid it’s rather a long story, Miss Rita.”

“We got a lot of time,” Rita pointed out. “Still a long way to go until we find Mister Steel.”

Nureyev had to admit she had a point. “Very well, but I do hope you won't think any less of me. It started around a year ago, when I got contacted by a scientist…”

Nureyev explained about working for Miasma, about the mask and the transporter and the pill, about the egg and the train, the weeks in the tomb and the final dreadful showdown, leaving out some of the gorier details.

“…and it was my fault he lost his eye,” he finished. “I’m the one who dragged Juno into the situation, who led him into Miasma’s hands. And it didn’t even matter; the egg wasn’t even dangerous. All of it, the deaths, the torture, the eye… it was all meaningless.” Nureyev stared ahead at the endless desert in front of him. He wasn’t going to cry in front of Rita. He wasn’t. “How much further?”

“Not long, Agent Glass,” said Rita, checking the map on her comms. “Only another hour at most.”

Neither of them spoke for several long moments, before Rita said, “Uh oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The signal’s flickering on and off, I can’t get a clear read on it anymore.”

Nureyev’s heart began to pound. “Is Juno….” He trailed off, not able to finish the thought.

“I don’t think he’s dying,” Rita answered, sounding uncertain. “It looks more like interference from something.”

Nureyev tried to squeeze another ounce of speed out of the stolen vehicle, thinking longingly of the Ruby 7 as he did. “Are we at least headed the right way?”

Rita stared hard at the comms screen. “A bit more that way,” she said, pointing. Then she flipped hand into an L-shape. “Yeah, definitely that way.”

Nureyev swung the car into the new direction. “Don’t worry,” he said, sounding much more confident than he felt. “We’ll get to Juno in time. I know we will.”


	3. Chapter 3

Juno Steel regretted a lot of things.

Working for Ramses O’Flaherty was one. Going into the subway and dragging Alessandra along with him was another. There was Benten, Annie, Yasmin Swift, not to mention the who mess with Diamond and the HCPD.

Leaving Nureyev.

But the regret Juno was currently focusing on was leaving the relative shelter of the rocks when the sandstorm was so close.

Sand whipped across his skin, making every uncovered inch sting. He wanted to rest, to curl up and cover himself, but he knew the sandstorm would easily bury him if he stopped. So he kept walking. Walking for the sake of it, walking to survive, walking with only his hallucinations for company.

The last one had a face as familiar as his own. At first he’d thought it was a younger him, until the hallucination asked why Juno had let him die.

Getting one foot in front of the other was growing more difficult as the sand mounted up. Each step was an effort. When Juno fell, it felt inevitable. When he fell again, he stayed down, feeling the sand pile up against his side, too tired to fight it.

Somewhere behind him was the sound of a car; one last hallucination, Juno thought, before the end. He felt hands pull up from the sand, heard voices call to each other above him, before exhaustion finally caught up with him, and he blacked out.

-

Juno surfaced several times, only remembering bits; the bumpiness of a car travelling at speed, Rita’s worried voice, cool hands on his face. At one point he thought he woke in a hospital bed with Nureyev asleep in a chair beside him. He could even smell the cologne.

But when he next opened his eyes, Nureyev was gone.

-

When he woke up properly, he was still in the hospital. Rita was sitting on his left, and she squealed excitedly when he opened his eyes.

“Mister Steel, you’re awake!” Rita managed to hug him through all the wires and tubes connected to him.

Juno took stock of himself. His skin was still feeling raw, but a cursory feel told him it was mostly healed. His head throbbed and his throat itched, but all things considered, he had felt worse.

“How long was I asleep?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Nearly three days. The doctors were worried about all the radiation you absorbed, but they said most of your symptoms should be gone by now.” Rita beamed at him. “I knew you would be okay, once they got you all fixed up, and soon you’ll be back in the office, and you can tell the whole city about the stuff you found about Mx Pereyra, and Mayor O’Flaherty wants to congratulate you-”

Juno groaned. “Rita, can you save all that for later? I just… I don’t think I can handle any of that now.”

“Sure boss, you focus on getting better.” Rita poured Juno a glass of water from the pitcher on the side table. “Oh, Mister Steel, you’re never gonna believe who I bumped into a few days ago! He should still be here, I sent him off to go get coffee, I’ll see if I can find- oh, there he is!”

Rita bounced up, and Juno’s gaze followed her to the door.

“Hey Rita,” said Juno, staring at the person in the doorway. “You should probably get a doctor, the hallucinations are kicking in again.”

Rita glanced between the two of them. “Well, I can get a doctor if you really want,” she said uncertainly, “but if you’re seeing who I think you’re seeing, your visions working just fine.” She pushed Nureyev further into the room. “I’ll leave you two alone for a while, I need to get some food and go to the toilet and I should probably call Frannie to let her know we’re all okay.” Rita left the room, leaving Nureyev standing nervously in the doorway.

Nureyev wished he had stayed rather than go seek coffee. But Rita had insisted he get some, saying he wouldn’t be any help to Juno if he kept falling asleep like that. He didn’t think the coffee worth it; it was standard hospital fare, hardly strong enough to keep him awake.

He took a few hesitant steps towards the bed. Neither of them spoke for several moments.

Juno was the first to break the silence. “It’s you,” he breathed, reaching out but not quite touching Nureyev. Nureyev caught the hand and held it tightly, mindful of the drip attached. “But- I thought-”

“I said I would come back for you,” Nureyev said, taking the chair by Juno’s bed, still holding Juno’s hand. “I should have come back sooner.”

They stared at each other for several moments more, drinking each other in, before Juno said, “Nureyev, I’m sorry-” just as Nureyev was saying, “I can’t apologise enough-”

“You don’t have to apologise,” Juno butted in. “I shouldn’t have left like that, I know I said I would go with you, I _wanted_ to, I just-”

“Juno, love, hush. It’s okay.” Nureyev pulled the chair closer. “I shouldn’t have held you to that promise, it was made under a stressful situation. A situation I dragged you into. If I had simply left you alone-”

“If you had left me alone I still would have gone after the artefacts, and Miasma still would have wanted me dead after I ate the pill. But I’m glad…” Juno trailed off. “I’m glad you came back,” he said finally. “I’m glad for all the times you came back.”

Nureyev laughed softly, stroking Juno’s hair. “There’s something irresistible about you, my dear detective.”

“What do you plan to do after this,” Juno asked, fighting back a yawn.

“I’d like to stay, at least for a while. Or we can travel. Whatever you like,” Nureyev replied. “But we can talk about plans when you’re well. Right now, I plan on nothing more than sitting here and watching you sleep.”

“You’ll still be here?”

“I’ll still be here,” he promised. “Sleep well.”


End file.
